Rebuilding of police precincts, city facilities nearly complete

By Jason MortonStaff Writer

Published: Sunday, March 3, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, March 2, 2013 at 11:56 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | The rebuilding of some city facilities damaged or destroyed by the April 2011 tornado is expected to be completed by the end of the month, but other tornado-related projects are in the planning stage.

The Tuscaloosa Police Department's East Precinct in Alberta should be ready before April 1, said Clif Penick, facilities director for the city of Tuscaloosa.

The new West Precinct on Culver Road is on a similar completion timeline.

Penick said completion of the East Precinct was critical because City Hall has been renting a former bank building off 25th Avenue as a temporary precinct since the storm struck.

"I don't want to extend that (lease) any further," Penick said.

He and Robin Edgeworth, director of the city's Recovery Operations office, updated the City Council last week on the progress of the precincts and other storm-related city projects.

The updates included infrastructure improvement projects in Alberta and at McFarland Boulevard's intersection with 15th Street, as well as portions of the planned City Walk recreational trail.

Edgeworth stressed that for most of the infrastructure work, and for the City Walk in particular, decisions are still being made on the exact locations.

"This is a presentation only about finances," Edgeworth said. "We're still doing testing, we're still doing environmental (surveys) — we're still doing lots of things that will ultimately determine where we'll want these things to go."

For example, construction has not begun on the leg of City Walk that will share the property of Central Church of Christ, but the work and design of the church site is providing city officials with an idea of what will be required once work on the path begins in earnest.

Edgeworth said the portion of City Walk proposed to line First Avenue at University Place Elementary School also has yet to clear the planning stage, but she said the community and nearby residents will be involved in the planning process.

"We anticipate having a meeting in each area of town, or one meeting at City Hall where we'll divide them up," Edgeworth said. "These public meetings, the whole point of that ... is if (residents) see it as a positive or a negative impact, we can get that information and address things about the project that we may not have thought about."

Another storm-related construction project nearing completion is the new $3.15 million Public Safety Logistics Building. Logistics had been housed along with other city services in the Richard A. Curry Municipal Services Building off Kauloosa Avenue.

The Curry building took a direct hit from the storm, and city officials are rebuilding the components that were housed within it at several different locations to prevent a similar wide-scale loss of services in the event of another disaster.

The Public Safety Logistics Building will also house the logistics functions of the Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue Service, which are now located in a building owned by the University of Alabama in front of Belle Foods on McFarland Boulevard. Penick said the project is "on schedule" and expected to be operational by mid-July.

The lease on the fire department's current building will expire in 2016.

The $7.575 million facility for the Environmental Services Department is moving slower than expected. Permits for the underground utility work were obtained last week. Penick did not give a projected date for completion.

"This project is moving along, but we have been held up by bad weather and rain," he said.

<p>TUSCALOOSA | The rebuilding of some city facilities damaged or destroyed by the April 2011 tornado is expected to be completed by the end of the month, but other tornado-related projects are in the planning stage.</p><p>The Tuscaloosa Police Department's East Precinct in Alberta should be ready before April 1, said Clif Penick, facilities director for the city of Tuscaloosa.</p><p>The new West Precinct on Culver Road is on a similar completion timeline.</p><p>Penick said completion of the East Precinct was critical because City Hall has been renting a former bank building off 25th Avenue as a temporary precinct since the storm struck.</p><p>"I don't want to extend that (lease) any further," Penick said.</p><p>He and Robin Edgeworth, director of the city's Recovery Operations office, updated the City Council last week on the progress of the precincts and other storm-related city projects.</p><p>The updates included infrastructure improvement projects in Alberta and at McFarland Boulevard's intersection with 15th Street, as well as portions of the planned City Walk recreational trail.</p><p>Edgeworth stressed that for most of the infrastructure work, and for the City Walk in particular, decisions are still being made on the exact locations.</p><p>"This is a presentation only about finances," Edgeworth said. "We're still doing testing, we're still doing environmental (surveys) — we're still doing lots of things that will ultimately determine where we'll want these things to go."</p><p>For example, construction has not begun on the leg of City Walk that will share the property of Central Church of Christ, but the work and design of the church site is providing city officials with an idea of what will be required once work on the path begins in earnest.</p><p>Edgeworth said the portion of City Walk proposed to line First Avenue at University Place Elementary School also has yet to clear the planning stage, but she said the community and nearby residents will be involved in the planning process.</p><p>"We anticipate having a meeting in each area of town, or one meeting at City Hall where we'll divide them up," Edgeworth said. "These public meetings, the whole point of that ... is if (residents) see it as a positive or a negative impact, we can get that information and address things about the project that we may not have thought about."</p><p>Another storm-related construction project nearing completion is the new $3.15 million Public Safety Logistics Building. Logistics had been housed along with other city services in the Richard A. Curry Municipal Services Building off Kauloosa Avenue.</p><p>The Curry building took a direct hit from the storm, and city officials are rebuilding the components that were housed within it at several different locations to prevent a similar wide-scale loss of services in the event of another disaster.</p><p>The Public Safety Logistics Building will also house the logistics functions of the Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue Service, which are now located in a building owned by the University of Alabama in front of Belle Foods on McFarland Boulevard. Penick said the project is "on schedule" and expected to be operational by mid-July.</p><p>The lease on the fire department's current building will expire in 2016.</p><p>The $7.575 million facility for the Environmental Services Department is moving slower than expected. Permits for the underground utility work were obtained last week. Penick did not give a projected date for completion.</p><p>"This project is moving along, but we have been held up by bad weather and rain," he said.</p><p>Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.</p>